Healthy Waters for EPA's Mid-Atlantic Regionhttp://blog.epa.gov/healthywaters
Buzz about the Next Generation of Water ProtectionThu, 26 Mar 2015 15:59:29 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=4.1.1http://www.epa.gov/http://www.epa.gov/epafiles/images/epa_seal_small.gifUS EPA SealSubscribe with My Yahoo!Subscribe with NewsGatorSubscribe with My AOLSubscribe with BloglinesSubscribe with NetvibesSubscribe with GoogleSubscribe with PageflakesSubscribe with PlusmoSubscribe with The Free DictionarySubscribe with Bitty BrowserSubscribe with Live.comSubscribe with Excite MIXSubscribe with WebwagSubscribe with Podcast ReadySubscribe with WikioSubscribe with Daily RotationFeed the Barrel: A tale of how small actions can change the worldhttp://feeds.epa.gov/~r/HealthyWatersBlog/~3/PClReWwOxnc/
http://blog.epa.gov/healthywaters/2015/03/feed-the-barrel-a-tale-of-how-small-actions-can-change-the-world/#commentsThu, 26 Mar 2015 15:59:29 +0000http://blog.epa.gov/healthywaters/?p=5200Crossposted from Environmental Justice in Action

By Lena Adams Kim

Father Didik of St. Thomas Aquinas church is one of the 15 Barrel Keepers who manage the system of oil collection barrels. The oil he’s pouring will become biofuel, compost, and soap.

It all started Thanksgiving Day 2013, with my daughters frantically yelling, “The basement is flooding!!!” A visit from the plumber, yards of ruined carpeting, and $900 later, it was clear that cooking oil clogging my kitchen drain was the culprit. And so I did what many do after experiencing the horrors of home damage – I complained to everyone who would listen.

My tale of woe reached Indah, a parent in my kids’ schoolyard. Indah, a journalist of Indonesian descent, mentioned how families in her immigrant Indonesian community in South Philadelphia were grappling with the same clogged pipes and costly repairs, yet unlike me, were often unaware of the cause.

She described how many had emigrated from rural areas of Indonesia, where every drop of precious oil is used, re-used, and then re-used again. Very little oil, if any, was discarded. And those first-world kitchen drains and sewer systems? Non-existent in the 17,000 largely undeveloped islands that comprise Indonesia. Those huge jugs of oil, available at low cost at grocery stores in the U.S.? Unheard of on smaller islands where budgets and resources are limited.

Yet things are far different in America, the land of plenty. Additionally, the cultural knowledge of what can and cannot, go down a drain is instilled in many of us from an early age. Not so obvious, however, to newcomers in a new homeland with new customs.

During my conversation with Indah, I realized there was a beautifully simple solution to this costly environmental issue of used fats, oils, and grease, also called “FOG”, which cause public health problems by entering the waste stream. Just last month, the New York Times reported on the impacts of food waste like oils entering waterways and landfills, ultimately decomposing to emit methane, a greenhouse gas. I wondered, “what if EPA worked with this community on proper oil disposal.” Could it make a difference?

Residents drop off bottles of used cooking oil at one of the neighborhood’s 15 oil collection points.

Today, two years after my basement flood, things are far different from the clogged pipes of the past. Thanks to connections made by Indah, this vibrant Indonesian community is now the first in the nation piloting a wildly successful residential oil collection program. Called Feed the Barrel, the program has gone far beyond just education on oil disposal. Now, they work with an oil recycler to collect and recycle used oil into biofuel, rich compost, and soap. The money made from the oil collected goes toward improving the community.

It would take pages to detail the unique ways this community tackled this environmental problem — how they insisted on using a local recycler, how they decided to empower children to help spread the word, and how they enlisted spiritual leadership to encourage neighbors in churches, temples, and mosques to become involved.

And it would be impossible for me to describe the pride I see in my neighbors in their newfound ability to spread environmental awareness — which they can give back to their new homeland that has given them so much opportunity.

News of their success in diverting more than 300 gallons of oil in the first year alone has traveled fast. They have been approached by communities throughout the greater Philadelphia area, and in New Jersey and Houston, Texas. Media coverage has been powerful in spreading the word, as their efforts have been highlighted on National Public Radio, in the Philadelphia Inquirer, and the city’s respected Grid magazine.

Imagine — Feed the Barrel started from a schoolyard conversation about providing people with something as simple as information. While EPA’s goal of “meaningful involvement of all communities in environmental decisions” might seem broad, its simplicity allowed, in this case, room to develop a creative solution to a nagging problem.

EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy has said that, “when people are made aware … they are empowered to act.” To learn more about the possibilities of oil recycling, or to follow pilot progress, visit www.facebook/feedthebarrel. And join the rallying cry: Feed the Barrel to Fuel America!

About the author: Lena Adams Kim is a member of EPA Region 3’s Asian Pacific American Council, as well as a communications specialist in the Hazardous Sites Cleanup Division.

Permeable pavement products can be used together with other green infrastructure.

When it rains, or as snow and ice melt, I frequently notice streams of water running off of my lawn, onto the street, into the storm sewer, and ultimately to a local waterway. I’ve also noticed an increase in flooded roadways and neighborhoods in my area even after a moderate to heavy rain. Unfortunately, stormwater is not just a localized issue, it is a problem across the country. As the saying goes: when it rains, it pours.

Flooding results in economic costs, human health impacts, and environmental damage in its wake. A major factor in more frequent flooding events is the increasing cover of impervious surfaces, such as roadways, parking lots and rooftops. Since these hard surfaces do not allow stormwater to naturally seep into the ground, most rainfall turns into runoff. With continuing development and growth, what options are available to minimize the effects of impervious surfaces? A more sustainable solution is to replace or substitute conventional pavements with permeable pavements – a green infrastructure tool.

Porous asphalt allows water to drain through it.

Permeable pavements include pervious concrete, porous asphalt, and permeable interlocking pavers that mimic nature by capturing, infiltrating, treating, and/or storing rainwater where it falls. EPA considers these materials a Best Management Practice (BMP) for the management of stormwater runoff. Permeable pavements also provide multiple benefits beyond stormwater management and reducing localized flooding: they also have the ability to improve water quality; reduce the “heat island” effect in urban areas; reduce roadway hazards like ponding water and icing; create green jobs; and can increase the livability and resiliency of communities and increase property values when used with other green infrastructure. In fact, these benefits are already being realized throughout EPA’s Mid-Atlantic Region.

Permeable pavements along with green infrastructure are effective ways to address flooding as well as supporting green, sustainable growth. So the next time it rains, think about where permeable pavements and other types of green infrastructure could fit into your community.

About the author: Jeanna Henry joined EPA in 2000 as an Environmental Scientist. She currently works in the Water Protection Division focusing on stormwater management through the use of Green Infrastructure. Jeanna loves nothing more than spending time outdoors with family and friends hiking, kayaking, or spending a day at the beach.

That’s how much clean drinking water American households waste each year due to leaky pipes, toilets, showerheads and other fixtures. That’s enough water to fill 1,515 Olympic-sized swimming pools!

The good news: fixing these leaks can be easy, inexpensive, and can save you nearly 10 percent on your water bills. EPA’s WaterSense program encourages everyone to “chase down” plumbing leaks during next week’s 7th annual Fix a Leak Week, because leaks can run, but they can’t hide!

Fix a Leak Week is the perfect time to find and stop water leaks in your home. When it comes to repairing leaky fixtures, and you don’t need to be a home repair expert. Some common types of leaks found in the home, like worn toilet flappers and dripping faucets, are often easy to fix. You might only need a few tools and hardware, and these fixes can pay for themselves in water savings.

To kick off the week, EPA is hosting a Twitter Chat on Monday March 16th from 2-3 pm (eastern). Join the conversation by using the hashtag #FixALeak.

The celebration of savings lasts all week: the WaterSense Facebook page has a map of events happening all over the country to celebrate Fix a Leak Week. Here are two in the Mid-Atlantic Region:

On March 16, EPA will be on hand at the South Philadelphia store of The Home Depot – a WaterSense partner – to demonstrate water-saving improvement projects. Stop by to find out about water-saving projects and products.

On March 22, the City of Charlottesville, the University of Virginia, and the Albemarle County Service Authority will host a Fix a Leak 5K, an event where runners will chase a “running” toilet along the city’s main rivers and natural areas. The family-friendly event will also feature local vendors and non-profits sharing information on water and energy savings.

Share the savings

When you take the plunge to find and fix a leak in your home, share the news!

How do you save water during Fix a Leak Week and every day? Let us know in the comments!

About the Author: Kimberly Scharl joined EPA in 2010, after moving to the mid-Atlantic region from Mississippi. She is a financial analyst and project officer in the Office of Infrastructure and Assistance, and is the Regional Liaison for the WaterSense Program. Kim enjoys bowling and spending time with her family.

The water-efficient “waste collection system” from the space shuttle, at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.

As I’ve watched news reports of wild winter weather across the country, I’ve been truly impressed by the resourcefulness and creativity inspired by the snow: amateur MacGyvers have engineered everything from homemade roof clearing devices to custom-designed sleds. But, in my humble opinion, this motorized combination snow plow/toilet created by a Maryland man during the President’s Day snowstorm might just take the cake.

Just as you can depend on snow to spur innovation, you can depend on the word “toilet” to grab attention. Although lots of toilet-related stories in the news are silly or gimmicky, I think it’s time to take the toilet more seriously.

I checked out the WaterSense website to see just how many toilets have been certified to achieve the WaterSense standard of 1.28 gallons per flush and achieve a high level of performance. I was amazed to find 2,396 models of toilets certified to meet the WaterSense standard. If you lined up that many toilets side-by-side, this line of loos would stretch for over half a mile! With this many models to choose from, you’re certain to find a WaterSense-certified toilet in a style and at a price that meets your needs. I was also surprised to learn that that toilet installation is now so simple, that you may not even need any tools!

So the next time you see a story in the news that uses the toilet as a punchline, just remember that the toilet is more than comic relief – it’s a chance for some serious savings.

About the author: Dr. Jennie Saxe joined EPA’s Mid-Atlantic Region in 2003 and works in the Water Protection Division on sustainability programs.

Celebrating “the Magic of the Movies,” the 2015 Philadelphia Flower Show opens this weekend at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. Each year, the Flower Show provides a prelude to spring, and a temporary escape from the cold and snow of a typical Philadelphia winter for its hundreds of thousands of visitors.

Watching a good movie can provide a great two-to- three hour escape where the unreal becomes convincingly real. Whether it’s a fictional land inhabited by mythical creatures; a time and place long forgotten; or a futuristic world in a distant galaxy, movie magic and special effects can make anything and everything appear real.

This year, EPA’s Philadelphia Flower Show exhibit “Now Showing at a Garden Near You,” featuring a cast of aquatic plants including azaleas, laurels, dogwoods, pitcher plants, phlox, and many other varieties of flora native to the mid-Atlantic region, demonstrates a magical yet very real, healthy and balanced garden ecosystem.

Using native plants from your area can provide many benefits for the environment including a source of food and habitat for pollinators, beneficial insects and other wildlife. Native plant communities also provide a sustainable way of fighting off colonization by those pesky invasive species.

Since natives require relatively little maintenance, they help save both time and money, and using native plants contributes to a healthy ecosystem that provides important ecological services like flood abatement, and filtering and replenishing groundwater.

If you plan to visit the Philadelphia Flower Show, stop by the EPA Exhibit and see how you can create a sustainable escape by applying “special effects” that will make your yard beautiful to look at, while reducing pollution and maintenance costs at the same time. The Philadelphia Flower Show runs from February 28 through March 8, 2015.

About the Author: Bonnie Turner-Lomax is the Communications Coordinator in the Environmental Assessment and Innovation Division of EPA’s mid-Atlantic region.

As an African-American and an amateur genealogist, I often think about my own family history and how my ancestors may have lived a hundred or more years ago. The United States Censuses of 1900 and 1910 list my maternal ancestors and their children as living in the communities of Dames Quarter, Ewell, and Chance, in Somerset County, bordering the Chesapeake Bay on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. My great-grandfather and his sons were all listed in occupation as oystermen or watermen, earning a living harvesting oysters on the Chesapeake Bay.

Most likely, my ancestors and others would have faced many difficult challenges in their day-to-day lives. Their work required being away from home and family, spending extended periods of time on the water, often exposed to harsh weather conditions. Yet for them and the other early 20th century watermen, the waters of the Chesapeake Bay provided a kind of home, as well as a source of stability and income. In fact, their way of life depended on a clean and healthy Bay.

Today, the nation’s largest estuary continues to support many people’s livelihoods. (Check out this photo essay exploring the life of modern-day Chesapeake Bay watermen). However, like many ecosystems, the Bay faces enormous environmental challenges, including nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment pollution, and the consequences of a changing climate.

Last year, EPA and its state, federal, and non-profit partners signed the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement, setting goals, outcomes and management strategies to guide the restoration of the Bay, its tributaries and the lands around them. That followed the establishment in 2010 of the Chesapeake Bay Blueprint for Restoration, or Bay TMDL, designed to ensure that all pollution control measures needed to fully restore the Bay and its tidal rivers are in place by 2025.

While government commitment is essential, individual actions can have a huge impact on the Bay. Check here for a list of simple everyday steps you can take to help the Bay.

Just as it was 100 years ago, the Chesapeake Bay continues to play a vital role in the lives of millions. The steps we take today are crucial in preserving this important resource – and its culture and history – for future generations.

About the author: Bonnie Lomax is the Communications Coordinator for the Environmental Assessment and Innovation Division of EPA’s Mid-Atlantic region.

Whether we live in houses or apartments, we all probably share the same sense of hesitation when we open our monthly electric bill…especially after some frigid winter months.

Keeping the environment and our household budgets in mind, it makes sense to consider ways to reduce these bills with more efficient appliances, and conservation measures to use less energy whenever possible.

Just like homeowners and renters, most operators of large water and wastewater treatment plants are always looking for ways of lowering energy consumption and the costs that come with it, and reducing their greenhouse gas emissions in the process. The difference is that their power requirements are enormous.

Did you know that nationally, electricity accounts for 25 to 40 percent of the operating budgets for wastewater utilities and approximately 80 percent of drinking water processing and distribution costs? In fact, drinking water and wastewater systems account for nearly four percent of all the energy use in the United States.

EPA’s Net Zero Energy team is helping utilities to lower their costs by reducing waste, conserving water, and lowering power demand.

I recently attended a meeting at the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, the regional planning group for in the District of Columbia, suburban Maryland and Northern Virginia where energy conservation and reductions were the chief topics. Each authority had used experts in the field to assist them in examining energy saving actions, and estimating the costs of implementing them.

While many of these energy projects involved little or no cost, others carried a more significant price tag. Each authority selected what actions would get them the biggest “bang for the buck” within their capital improvement budgets, and would pay for themselves within one to 10 years in energy savings.

So, what does cleaner air as far away as Indiana have to do with cleaner water in the Chesapeake Bay? Plenty.

A sizable portion of the overload in nitrogen in the Bay and its surrounding waters comes from tailpipes and smokestacks in a vast area that extends from the Atlantic Ocean to the mid-West and from North Carolina to a lower slice of Canada – and even beyond.

The nitrogen pollution is carried by winds and falls directly or washes into the Bay’s waters, contributing to algal blooms that rob oxygen in water needed by fish and other aquatic life to survive.

The good news is that actions by EPA and its state partners under the Clean Air Act have led to big reductions in those airborne nitrogen oxides, or NOx.

In putting together an EPA fact sheet on the topic, we found that two side-by-side graphics were most telling.

One shows the degree of nitrogen air pollution affecting the Chesapeake Bay watershed in 1986. The other shows the state of the air in 2013. It’s as if someone lifted a dark overlay.

That’s a big deal because scientists estimate that as much as a third of the nitrogen polluting the Bay comes from the air.

The fact sheet lists some of the Clean Air Act rules that have led to the sharp declines in NOx pollution. It also highlights figures that show EPA is on track to meet air pollution reduction goals in the Chesapeake Bay “pollution diet.”

And it’s not only the Chesapeake that benefits from the decrease in NOx pollution. Coastal waters from Long Island Sound to estuaries all along the Gulf Coast benefit from reduced nitrogen loads from the air.

You can do your part, too, to help brighten the picture. When possible, walk, bike or take public transportation to reduce vehicle emissions that pollute the air – and water.

About the Author: Tom Damm has been with EPA since 2002 and now serves as communications coordinator for the region’s Water Protection Division.

Sadly, my beloved Philadelphia Eagles will not be in the big game this year – again! But we can all be winners by conserving resources and saving money on game day and every other day.

Last year 111.5 million viewers watched the game. If all these fans used WaterSense toilets (which use 1.28 gallons per flush, gpf, or less) instead of the old 3.5 gpf models we could save enough water to fill Lincoln Financial Field up to the Club Box level with just one flush!

If you’re thirsty during the game you can drink bottled water at 50 cents or more each, or thanks to the Safe Drinking Water Act, your local utility, and other partners, you can simply turn on the tap and get safe, clean water delivered right to your kitchen for about ½ cent a gallon. That’s hundreds of times cheaper and you don’t have to carry the bottles home or dispose of them after they are used.

Game day savings aren’t limited to water, though. If all the households that watched the game got rid of their old beer refrigerator in the garage they would not only save about $150 a year but collectively enough electricity to power over 1.6 million homes!

And, speaking of drinking, if everyone who watched the big game recycled just 1 can we could save a weight of aluminum equal to 260 times the weight of the entire Eagles roster and save enough electricity to power a television for over 2,500 years!

Finally, everyone loves a party but the cleanup…not so much. If you’re hosting a large gathering and have left over, unspoiled food, please consider donating it to a local charity and helping the over 48 million Americans who live in food-insecure households.

Greening your party for the big game is a win for your wallet and for the environment. Try out these tips on Sunday and every day!

About the author: Steve Donohue has been an environmental scientist at EPA for over 25 years. Currently, he works in the Office of Environmental Innovation in Philadelphia where he is focused on greening EPA and other government facilities.

Trash and litter in our waterways can be harmful to our health, the environment, and the economy.

When EPA representatives met with 4th graders in Maryland last year to observe their work as “stream stewards,” many of the students had the same comment – there’s too much trash in the water.

One young girl told us, “People need to protect our world from getting dirty…because some people throw trash on the ground and they don’t pick it up so we need to tell them to recycle so we don’t get pollution in the water.”

That’s the basic idea – although in far more technical terms – behind steps taken by the state of Maryland and the District of Columbia under the Clean Water Act to control trash impacting two major rivers – the Anacostia and the Patapsco.

Trash and debris washed or dumped into our waterways pose more than aesthetic problems. They’re a serious health hazard to people, wildlife and fish and can have economic impacts. Trash harms birds and marine life who consume small pieces, mistaking them for food. In fact, a shard of a plastic DVD case was identified as the cause of the recent death of an endangered sei whale in Virginia’s Elizabeth River. Some of the waste contains chemicals and pathogens that affect water quality.

In 2010, the Maryland and District of Columbia environmental agencies combined to develop strict pollution limits, known as a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL), for trash in the Anacostia River. It was the first – and is still the only – interstate trash TMDL in the country.

And then earlier this month, EPA approved a TMDL submitted by the Maryland Department of the Environment for parts of the Patapsco River to deal with trash problems in Baltimore area streams and its famous harbor. The department worked closely with the City and County of Baltimore and with environmental stakeholders on the final product.

One of the ways trash is already being removed from Baltimore Harbor is through an innovative water wheel that collects it. Check out this video and story to see how it works.

And visit this site for tips on what you can do to keep trash out of waterways.

About the Author: Tom Damm has been with EPA since 2002 and now serves as communications coordinator for the region’s Water Protection Division.